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Age-related alterations of gastric mucosa and estrogen synthesis in rat parietal cells

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Abstract

The stomach has diverse functions other than gastric acid secretion. Multifaceted studies have investigated age-related changes of the gastrointestinal tract. Nevertheless, little is known about estrogen production changes in gastric parietal cells in rats aged over 3 months. We investigated age-related changes in gastric estrogen synthesis and the accompanying changes in liver estrogen receptor from 3 to 24 months. Weights of the body, stomach, and liver increased linearly from 3 to 18 months, then maintained a constant proportion up to 24 months. The gastric mucosa area (in mm2/1 mm muscularis mucosa) showed a constant proportion throughout the rats’ life. The population of parietal cells immunostained area with H+/K+-ATPase decreased gradually with advancing age. Cells that were immunopositive to aromatase antibody were observed at 3–24 months. The expressions of aromatase mRNA and its protein were somewhat lower at 18 and 24 months than at 3 months. The portal venous estradiol concentration at 12 months was 1.5 times higher than that at 3 months, and that at 18 months was a half of that at 3 months. The expression of estrogen receptor mRNA in the liver at 18 and 24 months was about 80% of that at 3 months. Results suggest that the gastric estrogen production declines with aging, and the liver estrogen receptor is also affected accordingly. Simultaneously, the gastric mucosa continues to express aromatase to maintain liver function(s) throughout the animal’s life.

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Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to all laboratory members for giving us constructive comments and warm encouragement.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K16470.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Structural Science, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Iida-nishi, Yamagata, 990-9585, Japan

    Hiroto Kobayashi & Akira Naito

  2. Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Science and Welfare, Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    Nobuyuki Shirasawa

Authors
  1. Hiroto Kobayashi
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  2. Nobuyuki Shirasawa
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  3. Akira Naito
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Contributions

H.K. conducted experimental investigations and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. N.S. co-interpreted data and polished the manuscript. A.N. supervised the study. All authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hiroto Kobayashi.

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The authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist that might prejudice the impartiality of this research work.

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All experiments were performed in accordance with institutional guidelines. All were approved by the animal research ethical committee of Yamagata University (#R3071).

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Kobayashi, H., Shirasawa, N. & Naito, A. Age-related alterations of gastric mucosa and estrogen synthesis in rat parietal cells. Histochem Cell Biol 157, 195–204 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-021-02054-0

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